


Looking to the Sky

by SailorSol



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers in Space
Genre: Best Friends, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Intergalactic Long Distance Relationships Suck, Male-Female Friendship, Picnics, Sunrises, post-Countdown to Destruction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-25
Updated: 2013-10-25
Packaged: 2017-12-30 10:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1017745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos decides he and Ashley need a day off from everything, so he plans the perfect "ordinary day" for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looking to the Sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Azpidistra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azpidistra/gifts).



> Thanks to the usual suspects for the beta and encouragement work.
> 
> Title from Vanessa Carlton's song "Ordinary Day".

The phone rang three times before Ashley managed to grab the receiver. “Hello?”

“Get dressed, I’ll be there in 20 minutes,” Carlos said.

Ashley blinked at her alarm clock. “Carlos, it’s four o’clock in the morning.”

“I know,” he replied. “But if we want to make it in time, we need to leave now.”

“In time for what?”

“Just get up and get dressed. And wear comfortable shoes!” He hung up before she could say anything else.

“Great,” she huffed, pushing off the blankets. “Cryptic phone calls at four in the morning. Carlos is just lucky he’s my best friend.”

She was only barely ready when she saw the headlights of Carlos’ car flash towards her window. She grabbed a yellow hoodie to ward off the early morning chill before leaving a note for her parents in the kitchen.

Carlos handed her a thermos as Ashley got into his car. “Coffee,” he said, far too cheerfully. “We’ll have breakfast when we get there.”

“Get _where_?” she demanded.

Carlos smirked. “It’s a surprise.”

Ashley scowled, slouching down in her seat; she wasn’t much of a morning person. At least the coffee was warm and fresh, with more sugar and milk than Carlos liked. Perfect, as far as Ashley was concerned.

“So what sparked this little adventure?” she asked. They had been driving for ten minutes, headed out of the city towards the desert.

He shrugged, not taking his eyes off the road. “I just thought we needed a day off.”

“A day off from what?”

She only caught the edge of his smirk. “Everything.”

She huffed. “That’s not an answer.”

“Have I ever led you wrong, Ash?”

“No,” she admitted reluctantly. “But you’ve certainly led me on wild goose chases first.”

Carlos’ laugh sounded real in a way that it hadn’t in weeks, not since before they’d revealed their identities to the world, before Dark Specter had been defeated, before Zordon had died to save them all. He didn’t respond to her accusation in any other way, instead pulling the car off the road into a turnaround.

“Come on, we’ve got to hurry if we don’t want to miss it,” he told her, climbing out of the car. He was already pulling a backpack out of the trunk by the time Ashley got out.

“Do you plan on being less cryptic than Andros any time soon, or should I give up hoping now?”

“All will be clear in time.” He held out a backpack for her. She slung it over her shoulders. “Now come on, I don’t want to miss this.”

Ashley rolled her eyes and followed the beam of his flashlight along a rocky path that wound steadily upwards. Carlos didn’t stop until they were at the top of a rise covered in low shrub brush. The sky was starting to turn faintly pink along the horizon as he took a blanket out of his bag and laid it out on the ground.

“Sit down,” he said. “Breakfast is in your bag.”

She crossed her arms. “Are you telling me that you dragged me out into the desert at the crack of dawn to have a picnic breakfast?”

His teeth flashed in the near darkness. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Now sit down and give me a bagel before I try and eat the blanket.”

Ashley huffed but dropped down next to him, bumping her shoulder against his. Carlos snatched the bag from her hands and started rooting around in it. Ashley sipped at her coffee, tilting her head up to look at the stretch of stars above them. They were on the wrong side of the planet to see Karova, but she figured it was the thought that counted.

“Thinking about Andros again?” Carlos teased, nudging her in the side.

“Yes.” It wouldn’t do any good to lie to him, not about this. “I wish he hadn’t had to leave so soon.”

“He’ll be back.”

“I know. Just sometimes...”

“Sometimes?” he prompted.

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. If I want to keep waiting for him like this.”

A sliver of orange peeked over the edge of the horizon, a bright beacon cutting across the dark desert. Carlos wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned sideways to rest her head on his shoulder. “You know he’s not asking you to wait.”

She laughed softly. “I know. And I think that’s part of the reason why I’m willing to wait. But it’s just so frustrating sometimes. All the other girls at school get to go on dates with their boyfriends, get to pick out dresses for homecoming, and I’m lucky if I even hear from Andros once a month.”

The sand and rocks started catching the light of the sun, and the world around them turned pink and golden. Ashley’s breath caught. “It’s easy to forget how beautiful Earth is sometimes, isn’t it?” Carlos asked, his voice hushed.

Ashley nodded. “Thank you for this.”

“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right? Besides, the day’s just started. You can thank me after.”

“After what?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Just wait and see.”

Ashley considered protesting again, but the sunrise was too pretty to ignore. Besides, Carlos knew her better than just about anyone, and an ordinary day with him sounded just about perfect.

 

 


End file.
